In 1818 Michael Faraday and a handful of other London artisans formed a self-help group with the aim of teaching themselves to write like gentlemen. For a year and a half Faradays essay-circle met regularly to read aloud and criticise one anothers writings. The Mental Exercises they produced are a record of the life, literary... more...

This book is about the idea of space in the nineteenth century. It uses contemporary poetry, essays, and fiction as well as scientific papers, textbooks, and journalism to examine literature's relationship with science. In particular it brings the physical sciences more accessibly and fully into the arena of literary criticism than ever before.... more...

This book offers a collection of essays on novels and short stories from the beginning of Victoria's reign through to the end of the nineteenth century and into our own times. The essays represent a wide range of critical and theoretical viewpoints on fiction, and they deal with a number of lesser-known Victorian Works as well as with some of the most... more...